Absence of money causes football friction

THE scarcity of funds has made for a tense environment in the country’s perennially troubled football fraternity, according to accounts of affected parties.

Accusing glances are being exchanged daily between officials at NFA Football House corridors, while club owners stare down their ringing mobile phones in the hope of warding off enquiring players who continue to bear the brunt of the desperate financial situation which is crippling the domestic game.

“Only some of us have fulltime jobs, and others have nothing else. It’s not like the men who at least have monthly salaries from their clubs.

There is no such thing in women’s football in Namibia. That little bit we get for playing for the national team means a lot. Some players support their families with that money,” said a concerned senior Brave Gladiators’ member, who is owed N$9 000 by the Namibia Football Association in unpaid appearance fees dating back to 2012.

The player, who spoke to The Namibian Sport on condition of anonymity, believes the NFA and some quarters of the public are indifferent to their plight.

“People think we are just making noise or trying to be problematic, but they don’t understand the situation. Money is a very sensitive topic; especially when it is owed to you and you need it. This is why we went to the players’ union because we don’t know what else to do,” she added.

The growing tension almost resulted in a physical altercation on Saturday when Namibia Football Players’ Union (Nafpu) secretary general Olsen Kahiriri claimed he was denied entry into the Sam Nujoma stadium for Namibia’s Afcon 2017 qualifier against Niger by the NFA.

Furthermore, the unionist said some of their members claim to have been victimised for publicising their concerns.

“The fact that we are being turned away from international matches shows that the pressure we are giving the NFA is reaching boiling point. We will not go away. We have a mandate to fulfill for the wellbeing of our members. We will see this fight through,” Kahiriri stressed.

On Monday, Nafpu announced that they had found no solution to the ongoing pay dispute involving the Namibia Football Association and the Brave Gladiators, as well as that of several Namibia Premier League clubs and their players.

The union’s president Lolo Goraseb said Orlando Pirates’ case will be heard on 23 June by the Labour Commissioner, while the NFA has agreed to an audience to address the disputes with Nafpu on Sunday, 12 June.

DEPLORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES

A Fifa and NFA member, Nafpu is now pushing to be recognised by the NPL, whom they want to pressurise their members into honouring their contractual obligations.

“We have lodged a dispute with the NFA against the NPL for arbitration. The NPL refuses to recognise us as the official exclusive bargaining agent of the aggrieved players. This and other issues pertaining to clubs saying they don’t have money to pay the players, will be tackled,” Goraseb stated.

The ‘deplorable financial circumstances’ stem from the NFA and its subsidiaries like the NPL and member clubs’ continued failure to secure substantive sources of revenue, Goraseb opined. The NFA depends largely on Fifa and government grants for their operations, while the NPL, who carry most of the clubs’ operational costs, only has MTC as solid backer.

NFA secretary general Barry Rukoro recently said the football governing body was heavily cashstrapped and in debt.

Murmurs of discontent over delayed salaries by the NFA secretariat have been doing the rounds at Football House for nearly two weeks.

“We cannot pay money we don’t have. We will only be able to do so when government gives us the funds. Until then, we just have to wait,” Rukoro said on NBC’s Soccer Pitch.

While their financial situation may not be as dire, the Brave Warriors’ technical team must be wondering whether they will ever get their Cosafa Cup winning bonuses promised to them a year ago. This is especially after the Sports Ministry’s permanent secretary Alfred Ilukena and Presidential press secretary Albertus Aochamub gave contrasting statements on the matter on Sunday and Monday.

Ilukena told NBC TV news that the Ministry was operating on a reserve budget as the new allocation had still not been signed off by President Hage Geingob, and they could thus not effect payments.

This claim was refuted by Aochamub on the national broadcaster on Monday.

“The explanation is that the President has not signed the relevant Appropriation Bill for funds to be released. Firstly, that is factually incorrect because the President has signed that bill a long time ago. If logic follows that the President has not signed the Appropriation Bill after Parliament passed the budget, it would mean that Government has come to a standstill because no ministry can spend any money,” Aochamub stressed.